Something More
by Flow-of-Life
Summary: AU. To her, he is something she simply couldn't have imagined. To him, she is someone who fell into his life way too easily. Ulquihime Two-shot. Title changed from "Change is in the Sky."


**Hey Guys! It's been a while since I've posted something, so here's an Ulquihime two-shot. The next half should be posted within a week or so. I've been playing around with this new structure-of cutting the story into very many tiny pieces-so I hope you like it. Reviews, as always, are helpful. Feel free to critique as much as you want. So, without further ado, my first Ulquihime story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in this entire story. That's all Kubo.**

* * *

The first time she saw him, she knew he couldn't possibly have been human. The bright green eyes, the dark scars that ran down from them. Skin so pale she often found herself wondering whether he was truly alive. And when she looked into those eyes, those bright green eyes that held no emotion, she instinctively knew he couldn't have been human.

* * *

He was the first person she had run into. She was in a new school, in a new country, and she wasn't exactly sure how to handle herself. Orihime only knew one person in the entire school, and she had no idea where that person was. She had been trying out her locker, making rather embarrassing exclamations as the lock refused to cooperate with her, when he confronts her.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asks, his cold eyes trained on her.

"Oh, um.." It takes her a minute to respond. Not only is she incredibly nervous, but he is a lot to take in.

Orihime had always loved adventure. She loved anything out of the ordinary. She dreamed of giant robot-Godzillas destroying cities, heroes that were aliens instead of fine young princes on horses, and the world's largest donut. The man before her is something beyond her wildest imagination, and she is utterly curious.

He seems to get bored with her while she tries to choke out a response. He turns to the locker she had previously been furious with and opens it quickly.

Confused, Orihime asks, "Do we have locker partners here?"

He doesn't even look back at her as he answers, "No." He grabs a textbook, slides it into his bag, and leaves her in the empty hallway without another word.

* * *

It turned out that Orihime had been trying at the wrong locker. A little embarrassed, but glad that she had come early enough that her locker troubles hadn't gotten her late, Orihime makes her way to her classroom.

Her teacher unsurprisingly makes her introduce herself.

"Hello. My name is Inoue Orihime. I'm Japanese, but I was born in the United States. Please treat me well." She bows.

Her classmates are kind. None of them make any comments on her hair color, and they talk to her easily. She notices that the man she had run into earlier is in her class as well, but he is on the other side of the classroom, immersed in a book, and she is too busy answering questions about the United States to think about him.

* * *

Her parents had both been born in Japan. They had moved to the United States a few years before she had been born.

Her father had gone to a university in the US before returning to Japan and meeting her mother. A few years after her mother had her older brother, her father had received an offer from an old friend he'd been keeping in touch with from his college days. His friend had decided to embark on the dream the two had created back then: to start their own business. He offered her father a partnership. He agreed.

And so they had packed up and moved to the United States. Her dad, mom, and brother, Sora. She was born years after that, growing up with a Japanese heritage in another country. She knew plenty of Japanese, her parents had made sure of that. She knew the customs, the politics, and what life there was like.

She went to school, made friends, studied hard, and played with her brother. She grew up.

And then, when she was sixteen years old, her parents and brother died. The police told her a fire had broken out and none of them had been able to escape. She had been in school. She was to live with an aunt she had never met in Japan.

Two days after that, she left on an airplane with no belongings. Everything she had owned had burned down with her family.

* * *

Orihime's flight had landed earlier than expected. Her aunt was nowhere to be found, and Orihime had no idea about anything. She stupidly wandered out of the airport, and a couple of thugs picked her out as easy prey. They yanked on her hair and laughed as she struggled.

It hadn't been as if Orihime couldn't have handled them herself—she was a black belt in karate. But she had been so disoriented from the fast Japanese and the new country that she hadn't been able to do anything.

A flash of black hair and a few punches later sent the thugs running.

It was a girl around her own age. "Are you okay?" she asked, reaching out to help Orihime up.

"Y..Yeah. Thanks." She wanted to say a lot more, but she was nervous about her Japanese.

The girl smiled at her. "I'm Tatsuki."

It was the start of her first friendship in her new life.

Tatsuki helped her out at the airport, screaming at airport officials and having them find Orihime's aunt.

It turned out that Tatsuki went to the same school Orihime was about to begin. Orihime had never felt more relieved in her life.

"Maybe we'll be in the same class," Tatsuki pointed out.

"I hope so!"

* * *

To her joy, Tatsuki is in her class. She introduces Orihime to her friends during lunch.

"This is Ichigo, Kuchiki, Ishida, Sado…"

Orihime gets along with all of them well. Asano-kun is a lot to take in, but combined with Mizuiro's comments and Kurosaki-kun's annoyance, they make her laugh a lot.

She is glad she was able to make so many friends on her first day. In fact, she has so much fun that she doesn't want to go home at the end of the day. Though, she doesn't think anyone would have wanted to go home to her aunt.

* * *

That night, as Orihime is taking a walk around the neighborhood—no, she did not sneak out to get away from her aunt—she hears some noises coming from in between two nearby buildings.

Against her better judgment, who she rarely listened to anyway, she checks it out.

Leaning around the edge of an apartment building, she sees a couple of rough looking guys standing in a circle. Her eyes widen. They were surrounding the man whose locker she'd been trying to open earlier that day. She wonders if she should call out to him, but sensing the tension in the air, she decides against it.

"Yer gonna pay me back fer the other day, green bean," one of the guys says, smirking. "I got you outnumbered."

_Green bean?_ she wonders. _Is that some sort of nickname? It's so cute!_ Yet, from her experience with him earlier that morning, she can't really imagine him as someone who would take on a name like that, much less allow it.

The green-eyed man looks bored. "You're in my way, _trash_."

Orihime blinks, and before she can realize what is happening, all of the men around him are unconscious on the ground. She stares in awe.

The man walks forward, as if there aren't several bodies scattered around him, his eyes as impassive as ever.

Her back straightens as he catches sight of her. But as her eyes meet his for a brief moment, she understands. She understands that, to him, she doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if she had seen what he had just done or not. After all, she is nothing more than a piece of trash.

And once again, her curiosity is ignited.

* * *

The next day, the man she'd become so curious about doesn't show up. She wonders if he is sick, but lets it go.

Except, he doesn't come to class the day after that, or the day after that, or the day after that.

After two weeks, Orihime asks Tatsuki about him.

"You mean Ulquiorra?" she asks.

"Is that his name? It's so pretty!" Orihime exclaims, clapping her hands.

"Unusual is more like it. Don't worry about him," Tatsuki says, rolling her eyes. "He disappears like this all the time. Not to mention, he isn't the type of guy you want to hang out with."

"What do you mean, Tatsuki-chan?" Though thinking back, it isn't really much of a surprise.

"It doesn't matter," Ishida interrupts. "He'll come back eventually, and he doesn't really like other people's company anyway."

And that was the end of that.

* * *

Weeks after that, Orihime is finally starting to get settled into her new life. She has great friends, great grades, and an aunt that was never really around long enough for her to have to avoid.

Orihime also started having feelings for Kurosaki-kun.

Soon after starting school, Orihime had asked for a job at a clinic nearby her house. She had been looking for something to do that got her away from her aunt, and thought it would be a nice job that would introduce her to a career in medicine. To her surprise, it turned out the clinic was owned by Kurosaki-kun's father. Orihime would never have thought that. Kurosaki-san was a whole lot different than Kurosaki-kun.

During her time at the clinic, Orihime learned two things. One, that she was not at all cut out to be a doctor, and two, that despite Kurosaki-kun's rough exterior, he was a sweet person that liked to help people out. He was like one of those heroes from the stories her brother used to tell her at night. Except Kurosaki-kun wasn't very good with girls, or understanding their feelings.

However, after seeing his interactions with Kuchiki-san for so many weeks, it was clear to Orihime that despite how much Kurosaki-kun denied it, he had feelings for the short, dark-haired girl. Orihime had many bouts of jealousy, but she realized there really wasn't much she could do. Kurosaki-kun didn't like her the same way he liked Kuchiki-san.

The only ones who knew of her feelings were Tatsuki, who supported her the best she could, and Matsumoto Rangiku, a senior that had caught Orihime crying in a bathroom stall one evening after school.

Orihime decided to keep her feelings to herself. She quit her job at the clinic, though uncomfortable with Kurosaki-san's crying and begging for her not to leave him (she was like his third daughter). She told him, as gently as she could, that the job simply wasn't for her, and that she wanted to find another way to help people that she could enjoy. Surprisingly, he understood and let her go.

To keep her mind off of Kurosaki-kun and her feelings, Orihime spent more and more time with Tatsuki-chan, Ishida-kun, and Sado-kun. She also found a new job at a bakery that she really enjoyed.

A few more weeks passed, filled with friends, bread, tests, and lessening amounts of romantic angst.

And absolutely no Ulquiorra.

* * *

He does come back, though, eventually, just like Ishida-kun said he would. Orhime awkwardly stares at him all day. Even her teacher notices, resulting in her being called on more often in order to keep her mind on school work. If Ulquiorra himself had noticed, Orihime doesn't know. He acts the same throughout the entire day, either bored or reading a book.

During lunch, Orihime hesitantly sits down with her friends. Usually they eat on the roof, but the janitor had forbidden them from doing so that day, and so they had found themselves on the front steps of the school. Orihime could see Ulquiorra on the far right of the school, sitting under a tree, reading. She continues staring at him.

"Still curious, huh?" says Mizuiro.

"He _was_ gone quite a bit longer than usual…"mutters Tatsuki.

"I…" Orihime starts tentatively, "I want to go sit with him."

Tatsuki blinks. "Why?"

Orihime tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's just that...he seems so...I just want to talk to him."

"Well, he won't want to talk to you," says Tatsuki.

"That's for sure," laughs Asano-kun.

"If she wants to go over there, then let her go," says Kurosaki-kun, taking a bite from his apple.

"I agree," Kuchiki-san says, sitting down next to him.

"If he does anything to her, I'll just beat him up," Kurosaki-kun continues.

"AS IF YOU COULD!" the group exclaims. Orihime watches as Kuchiki-san kicks Kurosaki-kun into the railing.

"Idiot!" she mutters.

"What the hell was that for Rukia?" Kurosaki-kun yells, rubbing his head.

"You can't beat him up on school grounds, you'll get suspended! At least wait until after school, idiot."

"That's what you were worried about!" someone screams.

Orhime laughs softly and makes her way towards Ulquiorra. When she arrives though, she doesn't know what to do.

"Um…Hi, I'm Orihime." She stands there awkwardly as Ulquiorra doesn't acknowledge her.

"May I sit with you?" She asks.

His eyes slowly drag upwards until they meet with hers. They still tell her the same thing they always have; that she's trash. "Onna," he starts, "do what you want. It does not matter to me."

Well, it wasn't a _no_. She settles down next to him. Realizing how hungry she truly is, Orihime pulls out her bento and digs in. She feels Ulquiorra's eyes on her.

"It's rice with avocado, cinnamon, and black beans. Would you like some?" she asks, holding out her food.

He looks as if he's caught between insulting her and ignoring her. In the end, he decides neither. "No," he says quietly, looking away.

"Your loss," Orihime hums, already back to gulping down her food.

When she finishes, Orihime feels more relaxed than she ever has. "Mmmmm. That was yummy. Hey Ulquiorra," she turns towards him, "how come you don't have any food?"

"I'm not hungry," is all he says. His eyes are still locked on the book, the same one he had back on the first day she met him.

"What book is that?"

His eyebrows come together. "Onna, stop asking me meaningless questions." He still doesn't look at her.

Orihime glances at him curiously for a few moments and opens her mouth to say something. Ulquiorra snaps his book shut and gets up.

Looking around, Orihime notices that students have started heading back inside. "Ooh, it's time to go back." Cleaning up and putting her things away, Orihime catches up with Ulquiorra.

Smiling up at him, she asks, "Can I sit with you again tomorrow?"

He glances at her through the corner of his eye. "I already told you, you can do whatever you like. It makes no difference to me."

* * *

It becomes a habit of hers, sitting with him during lunch. She makes sure to spend time with her friends as well, but she always looks forward to lunch. He rarely ever brings food for himself, so Orihime takes it upon herself to do so. He hadn't asked her to, something that he makes sure she realizes when she tries to get him to eat something she'd made herself. Thinking that maybe he was another one of those people that didn't enjoy her taste in food, she starts bringing leftover bread from the bakery for him. After reassuring him she doesn't bake it herself, he begins warming up to it, eating it just as quickly as Ishida-kun and Sado-kun do.

It seems like the only one that could truly appreciate her food is Rangiku. But Orihime doesn't mind; it means she has an excuse to spend more time with her friend that she doesn't see much during the school day.

She still can't get much out of Ulquiorra, but she knows she'll get there eventually. No one opens up completely overnight, and Orihime already knows that she is the closest person to him within their school. She likes to think that she is special to him.

* * *

A few days later, Orihime's belief is confirmed.

"Inoue, could I talk to you for a second?" Her teacher asks her after class.

"Sure, Sensei. What is this about?" Orihime is a little nervous. She's never been called out by a teacher like this.

"About the project we're going to be doing… Would you mind being Ulquiorra's partner?"

_Is that what this is about?_ "No, I wouldn't mind. I would love to be his partner."

"That's great! I'm so relieved. Ulquiorra was adamant about you being the only one he would work with."

And, without knowing it, Ulquiorra made Orihime's day.

* * *

**As I've mentioned, the next half should be up in around a week. Review please :)**


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